PRO BASKETBALL; Nets Make Kings Feel Right at Home

By DAVID PICKER

Published: March 7, 2006

During the past three months, the Nets built a reputation as one of the N.B.A.'s toughest teams at home. But against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, they played as if they were a thousand miles from Continental Arena. The Nets were outhustled on defense and had no semblance of rhythm on offense.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Nets' fans -- those who stuck around, at least -- looked as if they were already trying to bury memories of the Nets' 109-84 defeat. It was the Nets' worst home loss of the season.

The Nets entered the game having won 15 of their previous 17 home games. The Kings, who were playing their fourth game of a five-game trip, looked more like the home team.

To add insult to insult, Lawrence Frank failed in his first opportunity to gain his 100th career victory as the coach of the Nets.

''I take 100 percent responsibility,'' Frank said. ''For us to defend that way, that's on me. I didn't have our guys prepared. I did a very poor job tonight.''

With three minutes left in the third quarter, the Nets trailed by 18 points, and their fans let them have it, booing as Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson slumped into a timeout.

The Nets (32-27), who lost for the fourth time in five games, will attempt to turn things around on the road, where they have won only 13 of 31 games. They play at Chicago on Tuesday night and then have four days off before playing back-to-back games against the Hornets in Oklahoma City and at Houston. Their next home game is March 15 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

''We're going to continue to be very competitive at home and be very dominant at home,'' said Jefferson, who had 18 points. ''Tonight was just one of those nights. Sometimes, you have no explanation. It went from bad to worse.''

The Nets had no answer for Mike Bibby, who scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the first half. He made three 3-pointers and a layup in the final 2 minutes 21 seconds before the break.

''Early on, Bibby got going, and from there, it was the floodgates,'' said Kidd, who finished with 10 points and 11 assists. ''They got any shot that they wanted.''

The Kings (29-31) held a 15-4 edge in fast-break points during the first half, and they went into halftime leading by 10 points. Carter said that he felt as if the Nets were still in the game at that point. But the Kings began the third quarter with an 8-0 run and were never challenged.

Carter scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-22 shooting, and the Nets got little from their bench. Clifford Robinson was the only reserve to score during the first three quarters. He finished with 13 points.

''In the second half, we just couldn't make shots,'' Carter said.

The Nets missed their first eight shots in the fourth quarter and fell behind by 26 points when Brad Miller made a 3-pointer early in the period. Miller made 9 of his 10 shots and finished with 21 points.

When Jacque Vaughn made a jumper with about seven minutes left, the Nets had their first points of the fourth quarter, and mock cheers swept through the arena. They trailed, 94-70, at that point, and a comeback was hardly realistic to expect, especially since the Kings have emerged as a defensive force.

Ron Artest, who was traded to Sacramento from Indiana on Jan. 25 for Peja Stojakovic, is among the N.B.A.'s best defenders. Since his arrival, the Kings have allowed more than 100 points only five times.

''He makes a huge impact defensively,'' Kings Coach Rick Adelman said before the game. ''He's a guy that can take on the better players.''

Artest stuck to Carter early in the game, and the score was tied, 26-26 after the first quarter. When Kidd capped an 8-2 run late in the second quarter with a driving layup, the score was 43-43. But Bibby's scoring flurry gave the Kings a 58-48 lead at halftime.

In a quiet locker room after the game, Jefferson said that Frank took the blame to protect the players. But, he said, ''This loss was a collective team effort.''

REBOUNDS

Ron Artest said before Monday's game that he was pleased to end up in Sacramento after beginning the season with Indiana. But would he be open to playing for his hometown Knicks later in his career? ''That would be something else,'' he said. Clifford Robinson played in his 1,307th game, tying Buck Williams for eighth place on the N.B.A.'s career list.

Photo: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who had 7 points, was guarded by the Nets' Clifford Robinson, left, and Nenad Krstic. (Photo by Ray Stubblebine/Reuters)